22 May, let us pause to remember these young men from our Generation who answered the Sunset call.
22 May 1956: Two members from 3 Field Regiment (Transvaal Horse Artillery) were killed when their 42 AOP Flight Taylorcraft Auster Mk6 No. 5410, crashed at the Potchefstroom Artillery Firing Range during a training exercise. The casualties were:
P1/41345 Captain Pieter Jacobus Maritz. He was 25.
P1/42377 Lieutenant Simon Lloyd Whittingham. He was 23.
22 May 1969: 65411548N Trooper Hendrik Erlank Pieterse from 84 Technical Stores Depot was killed in a military vehicle accident. He was 19.
22 May 1978: 05250667PE Warrant Officer Class II David Schalk van Dyk from Witwatersrand Command suffered a fatal heart while sitting in his office at the Command. He was 54.
22 May 1979: 75577957BG Private Lew Sepel from the South African Corps of Military Police died after suffering critical head injuries in a Private motor vehicle accident in Pretoria. He was 22.
22 May 1983: 76397272BG Rifleman Johannes Engelbrecht from Infantry School was critically injured in a private motor vehicle accident near Colesburg and later succumbed to his injuries at the Universitas Hospital in Bloemfontein. He was 22.
22 May 1985: 84902964SW Rifleman Felosiyano Josef from 101 Battalion SWATF was killed in a Military Vehicle Accident at Ondangwa. He was 18.
22 May 1985: 68558154PM Major Jan Pen Wessels from 85 Combat Flying School was killed when his Dassault Mirage III D2Z, Serial No.848 crashed near Pietersburg. The Mirage entered an initial full spin from which the crew was unable to recover. Captain Louis Du Plessis, the Student undergoing instruction, was ordered to eject which he did successfully but Major Wessels stayed with the aircraft and actually recovered from the spin but the aircraft immediately entered a steep downward spiral turn. The high rate of descent prevented Major Wessels from ejecting and he went in with the aircraft. He was 36.
22 May 1994: 93769271PY Rifleman Pule Patrick Selai from 8 SAI was killed when his Buffel Troop Carrier overturned during a patrol in Thokoza Township. He was 26.
22 May 1994: 85064277HC Pioneer Fanie Hartnick attached to 16 Engineer Regiment was killed after suffering multiple injuries in a private motor vehicle accident when the mini bus taxi in which he was traveling as a passenger, overturned on the N2 freeway in Port Elizabeth. He was 27.
Their names and sacrifices will not be forgotten.